Perth(1) / Australia

Perth, Western Australia. Population: approximately 1.4 million. The city itself is quite small: the large Swan River is within walking distance of the office buildings of Perth's urban area; and large eucalyptus trees and uniquely Australian vegetation grow tall and unconstrained in Kings Park, also located nearby. And a twenty-minute drive will take you to a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean coast.

Perth, also known for its windy character, is also a place where many people enjoy surfing, windsurfing, yachting, and kite skiing, which are not so much sports as pastimes that people have enjoyed since childhood. Most of the Japanese businesspeople who obtain diving licenses here buy seasonal catching licenses, and devote themselves to catching lobster. My wife and I have also acquired diving licenses, but our objective is not to catch lobsters, but rather to enjoy the beauty of the sea of Western Australia. On the boat rented from the diving shop, we sometimes find ourselves together with elderly Aussie divers who have dropped by for a quick dive.

For many people, Australia is associated with koalas and kangaroos; and in fact, you can see wild kangaroo even in the golf courses of Perth's suburbs. If you take the ferry to Rottnest Island, you will be able to see the indigenous marsupial, the quokka. Numerous kookaburras (Japanese name: waraikawasemi), which are a kind of national bird, live near our home, and colorful parakeets that you would only be able to see in the zoo in Japan can be seen on the branches of trees lining the streets, completely unperturbed by pedestrians. I am awakened by the sound of the birds more often than the sound of my alarm clock. In the southern hemisphere's spring months of September and October, we can see lovely black swan chicks, within touching distance, in the nearby pond. Large-beaked pelicans sometimes fly en masse to Swan Lake, and I find myself staring in admiration at the sight of their spread-out wings as they fly gracefully across the perfectly blue sky.

In early spring (late August) the wildflowers start to bloom, making their way from the northern part of the state in the same way that cherry blossoms make their way northword in Japan, and continue to bloom until late October, when they reach the southernmost tip of the state. In early summer (November), the vivid blue Jacaranda comes into full bloom.

If you're looking for a relaxing way to spend your holiday, please come to Perth.

Perth. In the foreground are a black swan mother and her chicks Wildflowers Beach town on the Indian Sea coast Kangaroos

Marubeni Group magazine "M-SPIRIT" VOL.24 (November, 2004)